Alone Together
by femmefatale2
Summary: Ben. Gwen. Stuck in an elevator. Together! BxG oneshot. R&R!


**A/N:** _Ok people I'm officially back!! And with my next fic. I simply loved the central idea of this fic – getting trapped in an elevator together. Wow. So romantic. __Btw, I know I told you guys that I'd be naming this fic 'Trapped', but it later dawned on me that 'Alone Together' would be a better name. And it reminded me of the AF episode Alone Together, where Gwen actually goes and hugs Ben. That's one of my fave eps, btw. Not a single GwenxKevin moment. Bliss. Anyway, Here you go…_

**A.A/N:**_ This story is set in the actual Ben 10 timeline, i.e, when Ben and Gwen are both 10. Now read on. _

* * *

**Alone Together**

"Aw, man!" Ben punched his fist against the wall of the elevator. "Could you please tell me exactly _what _on earth we're doing here?"

"Nothing. We're just trapped inside an elevator that has gone kaput," said Gwen coolly, giving Ben a sneering stare.

"As if I didn't know _that_, " Ben shot back, trying to stare back at Gwen with that same sneering look, but failing miserably. "What I'm asking is just this that…"

Gwen raised an eyebrow contemptuously as Ben stopped mid-sentence.

Ben saw that look. "Oh, whatever!" he said, and turned his back to Gwen, crossing his arms in irritation.

Ben and Gwen had come to visit some plumber friend of Grandpa's. The latter had decided to use the stairwell to reach his destination, thinking it would prove to be some good exercise for him. The two youngsters, not wanting to walk all the way up to the sixth floor, had opted for the elevator. But in the middle of the second and third floors, the elevator had stopped with a sickening jolt, and just refused to budge further.

"This is simply a lovely way to spend your summer vacation. Get trapped inside an elevator, and stay there forever. Wow." Gwen's tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey…it's not gonna be forever, don't worry," said Ben, finally turning and facing Gwen.

"Yeah," said Gwen, finally beginning to feel a bit okay. "Just let's hope it isn't forever. Don't we have any other way out?"

"Unless you've got your cell phone with you," suggested Ben.

Gwen shook her head dejectedly. "I left it in the RV. Who could have even thought something like this would happen to us?"

Ben chuckled. "You sound as if some massive calamity has occurred. Chill, Gwen…we'll soon be out."

Gwen nodded, fanning herself with her hand. it was getting increasingly hot inside the closed elevator.

"Hey…I got an idea," Ben said suddenly. "Do you think I could turn into some alien or the other and get us out of here?"

"No…don't do that!" Gwen said hurriedly.

"What? But why?" Ben sounded highly surprised. "Don't you want to get out of here as soon as you can?"

"Uh…uh…" Gwen hesitated, not knowing what to say. She herself didn't know why she'd blurted that out to Ben. Could it be even faintly possible that she wanted to spend some more time alone with Ben?

Somehow, the idea didn't seem that gross, as it would have been had she thought of it _before_ this summer trip. The past few weeks that she had spent with Ben had definitely brought them a good deal closer. And even though they still bickered, it seemed somewhat fun to the both of them. At the beginning of the trip, they threw insults at each other, as if it was a compromise for the fact that they just couldn't throw themselves upon each other, and tear the other's hair out. No, some four weeks into the trip, they no longer wanted to do that. Their insults nowadays were more amusing than vengeful. And somewhere deep down, Gwen was thankful for that.

"Earth to Gwen!"

"Oh…sorry," Gwen quickly apologized, shaking away her trance-like state.

"So…did you find your answer?"

"Answer?" For a moment Gwen couldn't place the question. And then she remembered. "Oh…I just wanted you not to use the Omnitrix…'coz…'coz I don't want you to break this elevator down, and then get us into trouble with the hotel authorities. Yeah. And…and then how'll we pay all the compensation for it? It'll pose a lot of trouble for us…and Grandpa. That's why I wanted you not to go alien."

"Really?" said Ben quizzically. Was this really why Gwen had forbidden him to turn alien? The way she had instantaneously opposed his idea didn't somehow match with the theory she was presenting.

"Yeah…really." Gwen tried to appear as sincere as she could.

Ben shrugged, somewhat dubiously. "Okay. As you say."

An awkward silence followed. None of the two knew what to say. Finally, Gwen broke the silence.

"Don't you think it's getting hot in here?"

"Just like you?" Instantly, Ben realized what a blunder he'd committed. He quickly clamped his hand over his mouth the, bringing his gaze down to the floor.

"What did you say?" Gwen stared at Ben, eyes wide in shock. Had Ben just said that he thought she was hot?

"I…uh…nothing…" Ben stammered, blushing furiously.

"But I heard something! What was that, Ben?"

"I'm…I'm extremely sorry, Gwen. It just kinda slipped out. Please don't get angry. Please. I really don't want to annoy you."

"I'm not angry," said Gwen, surprising herself as she said so. Ben had just called her hot. And yet she was _not_ angry. Wow. "But is that really what you think 'bout me?"

"I dunno…" answered Ben. He seriously himself hadn't any idea why he had blurted that out. Did he really think that Gwen was hot? Come to think of it, didn't he? Hadn't he thought of this very thing just a few days ago…in those wee moments before drifting off to sleep? Yes, he had. But he hadn't at all expected that it would slip out of his mouth just like this.

"Do you really think that I…I'm hot?" repeated Gwen, a bit tentatively this time.

"Well…I seriously can't say…It just slipped out," Ben said sheepishly, still not daring to look up.

"And if it slipped out just like that, then somewhere, deep down, you do mean it, don't you?"

Ben's head shot up at the tone of Gwen's voice. He could swear he heard expectation in that voice. Almost as if she _wanted_ him to agree, that yes, he did think she was hot.

"Well yeah, I guess…that's what I think…"

"Uh…yeah…ok." Gwen bit her lip. Ben though she was hot. A blush rose to her cheeks. She snuck up a look at Ben, who had suddenly found his shoes very interesting. But even though his face was downcast, she could clearly notice the red on his cheeks. _My cousin just said that he thinks I'm hot. And now the both of us are blushing like crazy. Wow._

Another hushed spell fell upon them. It really seemed queer, that after all these days of staying together 24X7, the two couldn't find a thing to say to each other – not even an insult. The entire ambience had changed in just a couple of minutes. Grandpa would have loved to know that his two grandchildren could get along if they wanted to, even if it included keeping silent, and blushing intensely. But Grandpa was not here, and nobody knew exactly _when_ they'd be able to get out.

Gwen sighed loudly. She really didn't have any reason for sighing. She just wanted to break the eerie silence…and somehow, strike up a conversation with Ben. For the first time in the whole of her summer vacation, she herself _wanted_ to talk to Ben. Was that an improvement? She didn't know.

She sighed once again. This time Ben looked up. "What?" He asked her somewhat doubtfully.

"Nothing," Gwen replied softly. "I just…dunno…I just wanted to break this silence. It's getting on my nerves. Just wanted to…uh…talk to you."

"Talk to me? Gwen, are you…" He quickly changed what he was going to say on seeing the look in Gwen's eyes. "Yeah sure you can talk to me…"

"Um…um…I…" Gwen began, but didn't know what to say further. She lowered her gaze. For the first time in her life, she felt herself at a loss for words, that too while talking – or rather wanting to talk – to Ben. She wondered whether her brain was still functioning, or had just succumbed to the increasing heat. Firstly, Ben had called her hot, and instead of getting angry, and throwing insult after insult at him, she'd just blushed like crazy. Then, she'd wanted to talk to Ben. Weird. Utterly weird. She slowly looked up at Ben, only to see him staring at her fixedly, with a mixed incomprehensible expression on his face. Suddenly, her stomach gave a sudden flip. _Ben looked almost…no, not almost…he really looked…cute._ Then suddenly as her brain caught up with her sudden deliberation, she gave a shocked gasp. _I just thought that Ben looks cute? What the hell is wrong with me? _

"Everything okay?" asked Ben quickly.

"Wha –" she began, startled, but then realized that Ben was probably asking her this because of the sudden gasp she'd let out. "Yeah…everything's okay." _Unless I take into consideration the fact that I think my cousin looks cute._

"Really?" asked Ben skeptically. "Then what was that sudden gasp for?"

"I…I…just remembered something," lied Gwen, bringing down her gaze once again.

"And could I ask what exactly did you remember? And why are you staring at your shoes like that – as if you've committed some crime, and I just caught you red-handed?" Ben's tone was now highly incredulous by now. "Are you sure everything's okay, Gwen?"

Gwen didn't reply. She had no idea what to reply. Should she tell Ben what she was thinking? Or should she just feign innocence? But Ben knew her too well. He'd immediately figure out – if he'd not already done so – that she was hiding something.

"Gwen…are you okay?" Ben repeated.

Still Gwen didn't answer.

"Gwen…"

The same silence greeted him.

"Gwen…"

"Oh, just shut up and leave me alone!" cried Gwen suddenly, her temper flaring up. She glared at Ben. "Mind your own business, will you? I told you whatever was necessary, and I don't think I need to explain anything more! What I remembered, and why I'm staring at the floor like this is entirely my business! OK?"

Ben flinched visibly. He was clearly taken aback. He hadn't expected this outburst from Gwen – and he hadn't quite liked it either. "Oh…ok." There was a marked brusqueness in his tone. What had he done for Gwen to shout at him like that? He'd just asked her what was bothering her…that was all! Did that signify him trying to pry into her personal life? And heck…didn't he have the right to ask her what was going on in her personal life? They'd spent more or less four weeks together – doing everything starting from brushing their teeth in the morning to pulling the covers over themselves at night – together. Didn't he have the right to know what was wrong with Gwen?

He shot a glance at Gwen, who had lowered her eyes once again, and shrugged nonchalantly. Fine, if she wouldn't tell him what was wrong, he wouldn't go asking her either. Let her sort out everything alone. He stiffly turned around and leaned on the wall, facing away from Gwen.

Gwen watched silently as Ben turned away from her. And why shouldn't he? she'd shouted at him for no apparent reason at all. But this was the first time he'd turned away _without_ saying a single word more. Usually when she shouted at him – and that was a whole lot of times – he didn't spare any chance to shout back at her either. Then why had he behaved differently today? Why hadn't he shouted back at her? As she stared at his back, another thought came into her mind. Why had she shouted at him like that in the first place? Just because he'd ventured to ask why she'd behaved so strangely?

Suddenly, Gwen felt terribly guilty. _I shouldn't have shouted at Ben. All he was trying to do was…was…_She looked up at Ben once again. This time, she didn't bring her gaze down. _All he was trying to do was…what? _She sighed softly. _I should apologize to him. Right now._

But apologizing – that also to her cousin, wasn't something Gwen was accustomed to. She took a deep breath. _Ok…let's do it._

She slowly walked forward to where Ben was standing.

"Ben…"

Ben was leaning casually against the wall. At the sound of her voice, he stiffened up. But he didn't' turn back. He didn't make a single sound to acknowledge her presence either.

"Ben…"

Still Ben didn't answer.

Gwen sighed. "Ok…if you're paying me back in the same coin by not replying to me, then it's ok…I—I'm…I guess I deserved it."

Silence.

"Uh…I just came to say sorry – for – for shouting at you like that, when all you were trying to do was…was…" she fumbled once again. "Er …I'm sorry, Ben."

"…"

Gwen sighed – a more audible sigh this time. Why was Ben behaving so annoyingly? She'd said sorry to him, hadn't she? Okay, he had every right to be angry with her, after the way she'd behaved with him. But couldn't he turn back, and say at least something – even shout at her?

Gwen softly shook his head. She slowly lifted her hand, and hesitantly placed it on his shoulder. As her hand came in contact with his body, she could feel him stiffen up all the more, and…what was that? Had Ben squirmed under her touch? She slowly lifted her hand, thinking it would be better if she removed her hand from his shoulder, but after a little deliberation, thought that it wouldn't be that bad an idea to let it stay there.

"Ben…" She called once again, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. Once again she could feel Ben squirm. She couldn't help feeling a bit surprised. Ben was squirming under _her _touch? Was he okay?

"Ben…"

"What?" said Ben suddenly, his tone harsh and biting. He had intended to make it sound a little harsh, because he really had been miffed by her behavior. But he hadn't intended to make it sound _that_ harsh.

He'd expected that Gwen would immediately remove her hand, and go back, probably muttering curses at him under her breath, but she didn't do anything of the sort – not yet. Instead, he could feel her grip on his shoulders tighten. Before he could realise what was happening, Gwen had placed her right hand on his other shoulder and was slowly turning him around. As his gaze met her questioning one, he immediately lowered his eyes.

"Ben, look at me, please."

"What?" Ben said without raising his eyes. He didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to look up and stare into her eyes.

"Ben, please look up at me."

Ben silently shook his head.

Gwen roughly brushed a stray lock of hair that had fallen on her face, and sighed in exasperation. God. _Why_ was Ben behaving like this? She took a deep breath. _No. I mustn't lose my temper. I've to apologize to him, and losing my temper won't help me in doing that._

"Ok," she said finally. "Don't look up. But just listen to me. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. 'Kay?"

Ben nodded, his eyes still downcast. Gwen had apologized to him. That wasn't something that happened everyday, and he should have taken the full advantage of that situation. But somehow, he didn't feel like that right then. He felt…different.

Gwen carefully watched Ben as he accepted her apology. It wasn't everyday that Ben accepted apologies without payback. _But then, it isn't everyday that I apologize to him, either._ She nervously licked her lips, which had gone dry – and she had no idea why. Okay. Her task was over. She had apologized to Ben. She should be going back now. She glanced over at her hands, still lightly pressing Ben's shoulders. She should be removing her hands too. There were a lot of 'should'-s that she should have been doing. But strangely, she didn't want to do any of those. And even more strangely, she didn't know what she wanted to do.

An excruciating silence engulfed them. It was as if time had frozen inside the lift. The two cousins just stood there like that, Ben with his head down, and Gwen with her hands on Ben's shoulders, staring into his downcast face. Both were struggling to come to terms with their emotions.

After what seemed like eternity, Ben finally looked up, straight into Gwen's inquiring face. This time it was Gwen who looked away.

"Why were you staring at me like that?" asked Ben.

"Uh…just like that," answered Gwen, beginning to remove her hands from Ben's shoulders. She should have removed them long ago. _What was I even trying to do?_

The sudden grip of Ben's hands on hers made up jerk up her face. "Wha—" she began, highly surprised, but Ben cut her off.

"Let 'em stay there," he said, gently placing her hands back on his shoulders.

"What…but why?"

Ben shrugged. "Dunno. It just…just feels good."

"My touch feels good?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly.

A faint hint of red appeared on Ben's cheeks. "If you don't mind, then…yeah."

"Oh…ok…"

Once again that nerve-racking silence. Neither of the two cousins knew what to say. They just stood there, Gwen's hands on Ben's shoulders, lost in each other's eyes… Green eyes were supposed to be special. And they both shared that…

A sudden noise from outside startled Gwen. She quickly moved away from Ben, blushing slightly. _What was I doing anyway? A few minutes more, and I'd have gone and hugged him!_ _Hug Ben?._…… She glanced sideways at his cousin, who was shuffling about with his feet. _Hug him…_She was suddenly possessed with the seemingly enormously insane idea of actually going and wrapping her arms around him. _Oh God, what am I thinking?_ She shook her head, trying to block out that idea. She turned towards Ben.

"Uh…what was that noise?"

"Hmm?" Ben turned towards Gwen. "Noise? What noise?"

"Didn't you hear that—" she began, but stopped suddenly, trying to hear something. "Hear that?"

"What? Gwen, are you –" he was cut off as Gwen placed her hand on his mouth, shutting him up.

Then faintly, both could hear something. The sound of feet. Feet shuffling about. Then they heard a male voice calling out – "Ben! Gwen! You two in there?"

The two cousins exchanged a glance.

"Grandpa? Is that you?"

"Yes!" said Grandpa, his voice barely audible. "You able to hear me?"

"Very faintly!" shouted Gwen back. "Grandpa, why don't you come closer to the elevator, and then talk? Seems like you're standing some twenty feet away!"

"I am standing just in front of the door. This elevator's soundproof!"

"Oh!" said Gwen. She turned to Ben. "A soundproof elevator? Wow!"

Before Ben could make any reaction she again turned to face the door. "When will you get us out, Grandpa?"

"I'm sorry, honey, but you won't be out for another twenty minutes or so."

"What? But why?"

"Actually there has been a major snag in the technical department over here, so the power's gone off. They've informed the technician, who'll arrive in about ten minutes. And he'll be taking another five to ten minutes to fix the glitch, so there you go."

"Oh. Ok," replied Gwen, feeling both distraught and thrilled at the same time, not knowing why.

"And Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going off to make sure things are okay at the tech department. We don't want another hitch in the form of a short circuit or something. You'll manage yourselves, won't you?"

"Oh…yeah, we will manage ourselves. You needn't worry."

"Ok. But Gwen, why hasn't Ben spoken even once all this while?"

Gwen turned aside only to see her hand still tightly pressing Ben's mouth, preventing him from saying a single word. Now that she had finally looked at him, Ben narrowed his eyes and fixed an annoyed stare on her.

Realizing her blunder, Gwen quickly removed her hand, mouthing a 'Sorry' to Ben.

Ben stared for a moment at her and then turned to face the door. "Uh…I'm here, Grandpa. It's ok. And…er…you can go. Don't worry about us."

"Ok," said Grandpa. And with a "Don't worry. We'll get you out soon," he was off.

Once Grandpa had gone Gwen looked at Ben, who was still glaring at her. She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Ben. I really didn't realize that my hand was still pressed to your mouth. Sorry."

Ben shrugged. "Ah…it's ok, I guess." He stopped glaring at her, and instead smiled mischievously. "Must be my lucky day. Got you to say sorry to me two times in a row. Cool!"

"Doofus!" said Gwen, light-heartedly punching Ben in the arm. "So you heard what Grandpa said?"

"Hmm? 'Bout that another twenty minutes thing?"

Gwen nodded.

"Yeah I heard. Bad luck."

Gwen's heart sank suddenly. "B-bad luck?"

"Of course! Being stuck with you in an elevator for all this while was torture enough, not to mention the added twenty…" He stopped on seeing Gwen's face fall. "Gwen?"

"What?" There was a marked dejection in her tone. She hadn't really wanted to let that come out, but it had.

"You…you're…" He had no idea what to say. A situation like this in which Gwen felt bad at something – a supposed insult – he'd said hadn't ever come across in his life. So he naturally had no idea how to react.

"Bad luck?" Gwen repeated hollowly, staring at Ben.

_Oh man, I shouldn't have said that. But how could I have known that she'd take it to heart?_ He walked up to Gwen, and hesitatingly kept his hand on her shoulder. "Gwen…I…I didn't really mean it, you know…"

"You didn't?" asked Gwen, that hollow tinge still evident in her tone.

"No," said Ben, suddenly realizing that he actually hadn't really meant it, too. "I…I just said that…you know…just like that…the way we always…uh…speak to each other. I didn't know you'd really feel bad. I'm sorry, Gwen."

Gwen didn't say anything. She just stared into Ben's eyes. She was suddenly again possessed with that indomitable feeling to go and hug him.

"Uh…so…it's ok? I mean…you ok?" Ben stammered, sounding extremely fuddled.

Gwen still didn't say anything. She just kept staring at Ben's face, and the more she did so, the more she began to be possessed with the urge to hug him. She wanted to break the gaze apart, but her brain wasn't exactly inclined to do so. She just kept staring at him, feeling herself getting more and more drowned in that sensuous charm oozing out from him.

Ben too stared back at Gwen as she stared at him. They'd had many staring contests in the past, but this didn't seem like one, in spite of the fact that they were doing exactly what they used to do in their staring contests – stare. He was beginning to feel a bit ill at ease, being subjected to such a look from Gwen. Gwen normally looked at him only to glare – except for those few rare moments when they behaved amicably. Was this one of those 'few rare moments'? Or…was it something more than that?

"Ben…"

Gwen's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

Gwen bit her lip. She didn't know why she had called out his name. She had just felt like doing it – and she had done it. But what should she say to him now?

"What, Gwen?" prodded Ben softly.

"Um…I…" Gwen trailed off, feeling lost in those emerald eyes. By now her longing to wrap her arms around Ben had become so strong that she could no longer control it. In one swift movement, she threw her arms around Ben, and buried her face into the nape of his neck.

The sudden weight of Gwen throwing herself on him made Ben stagger suddenly. To balance himself – and her – he automatically locked his own arms behind her waist, pulling her closer to him in the process. The pull had been absolutely unintentional, but having Gwen this close to him aroused a sudden tightness in his chest. Gwen, his cousin, standing there with her arms around him, and her face buried in the nape of his neck… Quite on their own, his arms further tightened around her waist, pulling her even more closer to him.

The feeling of Ben pulling her this close to him made Gwen slowly lift her head and look up at Ben – straight into his eyes. She felt herself drowning in those green orbs once again. It was as if the whole world outside had come to a standstill, leaving just the two of them in their perfect little world…

As Ben too stared into Gwen's eyes, he could feel that tightness in his chest increasing. Up this close, eyes locked with his, she looked more beautiful than any girl he'd ever seen. "Gwen…" The sound of his voice uttering her name aloud startled him a bit.

"Yeah…Ben…" said Gwen softly, her voice just a few notches higher than a whisper.

"Gwen…"

"Ben…"

Slowly, the two cousins began leaning in closer…and closer…and closer…till finally their lips touched. The kiss was at first soft, pliant, but it soon found its own fervent rhythm as tongues and lips both melted in one fierce, hot union. They squeezed together tighter, needing and gaining from each other a sense of intense unity and belonging.

Finally, when the need to breathe had become imperative, they pulled back, slowly…very slowly…as if neither wanted to let go, but just to savor this feeling – this intense warmth for ever…and ever…

"So," said Gwen, once both of them had drawn their lips apart, although they still had their arms around each other. "Got something to tell me?"

Ben grinned cheesily. "Hasn't what we've done just now told you enough?"

Gwen sighed softly and rested her head on Ben's chest, tightening her hold around him. "Ben…"

"Hmm, Gwen? Want another kiss?"

"Uh huh," Gwen nuzzled her face further into his chest. "Just wanted to say I love you…"

Ben smiled softly, and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Love you too…Gwen."

As Gwen opened her mouth to speak again, she heard another voice from outside. "Ben? Gwen?"

Gwen shook herself out of her trance like state. "Grandpa?"

"Yeah. Me. We'll get you out in five minutes, ok?"

"Five minutes?" both cousins chorussed, their faces falling.

Apparently, Grandpa didn't get any hint of that. "Yes. The technician's arrived, and he'll fix the snag in 'bout a minute or so. I bet you're relieved that you won't have to spend any more time stuck together."

The two cousins exchanged a glance, smiling wryly.

"Yeah," said Ben, putting an arm around Gwen and pulling her closer to him, grinning mischievously. "Relieved beyond anything you could ever imagine."

"I knew it," said Grandpa, chuckling. "Stay put for a minute more."

"Only?" Gwen said in a low voice to Ben.

Ben placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry, Gwen. We still have four weeks of our summer vacations left."

"Well yeah," Gwen agreed, a smile appearing on her lips. "And you can never tell what's gonna happen then!"

"Ok you two, we're opening the door now!" called Grandpa from outside.

The two quickly separated from each other. In a few seconds, the door had been yanked open, and they were standing in the reception hall of the hotel.

"You two okay?" asked Grandpa.

"Yeah," said Gwen.

"And you, Ben?"

"Fine too."

"I knew it. In spite of you two being a threat to each other most of the times, it's good to know that you can behave amicably for a while, especially in such a demanding situation."

Ben and Gwen looked at each other, and grinned.

"What? Didn't you two behave amicably?"

"Oh yes!" answered Ben, still grinning. "You won't believe just _how_ much amicably we behaved with each other!"

"I'd have liked to believe that, but you grin says otherwise." Grandpa turned to Gwen. "Is Ben saying the truth?"

"Absolutely, Grandpa! How do you expect us _not_ to behave amicably with each other? Ben's right. You'll never be able to even imagine just _how _amicably we behaved with each other!"

Grandpa sighed, shaking his head. "I won't say that this was something that should have happened to you, but I can see that even after this, you two didn't learn anything. When will you understand the meaning of teamwork?"

One look at the grinning faces of his grandchildren, and he had his answer. "Uh…I guess never. Some things can never change after all." With a shrug, he began walking away, beckoning to Ben and Gwen to follow him.

Ben and Gwen exchanged another glance.

"Never change, huh?" said Ben, smiling.

Gwen too grinned. "He doesn't know just _how_ wrong he is!"

Ben laughed. "Yeah."

"Kids, come on!" called Grandpa from the reception counter at the other end of the hall.

"Coming, Grandpa!"

And as the two cousins walked away, they both knew this, that the past half hour had changed everything for them. Maybe they still were the bickering cousins they were some minutes ago, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was their actual relationship, and their feelings for each other. Now, they were in love with each other.

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**A/N:** _Ok, how was that? I began this fic with loads of ideas, but ideas weren't exactly flowing at the end. Hope it was passable. So just review and let me know how that went. If you didn't like the ending, tell that too. Tell just about anything you want. Review!!_


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